Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1887-01-15
DR., !9AEMAGE'S SERMON.
Subject Of Discourse: ..The Proud In
valid"


together. A red mark has come out on the
Forehead, precursor Of complete disfgure-
ment and dissolution. have something aw-
full to tell you. General Naaman, the Com
mander-in- Chief of all tie Asyrian forces
has the leprosyl It is on his hands, on his
face, on his feet on his entire person. The
leprcsyi Get out of the way Of the pestilencel
IL his breath strikes you, you are dead man.
The Commander in Chief of all the forces Of
Assyria And yet he would be glad to ex-
change conditions with the boy athis stirrup,
or the other that blankets his charger. The
news goes like wild fire all through the realm
and the people are sympathetic aud they cry
out: SIS it possible that our great hero who
shot Ahabe, around whom we came with
such moderation when he returned from vic
torious battle-can it be possible that our
grand and glorious Naaman has the lep-
Yes Everybody has something he wishes
he had not David, an Absalom to disgrace
him; Paul, thorn to sting him; Job, car
huncles to plague him: Samson. pelilah to
shear him: Ahab, Naboth to deny him:
Haman, Mordecai to irritate him; George
Washington, childlessness to afisict him;
John Wesley, a termagant wifeto poster him;
Leah, weak eyes; Pope, crossed back;
Byron, a club foot; John Milton, blind owes;
Charles Lamb, an insane sister, and you, and
you. and you, and you, something which you
never bargained for and would like to get
rid Of. The reason of this is that God does
not want this world to be too bright: other
wise, we would always want to stay and eat
these fruits, and lie on these lounges and
shake hands in this pleasant society. We are
only IN the vestibule of a grand temple. God
does not want US to stay on the doorstep, and
therefore he sends aches and annoyances and
sorrows and bereavements and all sorts to push
rs on and push US uD toward ripper fruits and
brighter society and more radiant prosperi-
ties. God is only whipping us ahead. The
hat D. n
ert Hall had more rapturous views of
heaven than other people had was be-
cause, through their aches and palms. God
pushed them nearer up to it. II God dashes
out one of your pictures it is only to show
yol brighter one. If He sting your foot
with govt, your brain with neuralgia, your
tongue with an inextinguishable thirst, it is
only because He is preparing to substitute a
better body than you ever dreamed of, when
the mortal shall put on immortality. 1t to
push you on and push you up toward some
thing grander, that God sends upon you as
de did upon General Eaaman something YOU
do not want. Seated in his Assyr:an man
eion-all the walls glittering with the shields
which he had captured in battle; the corri-
dors crowded with admiring visitors who Just
wanted to see him once; music and mirth and
banqueting filing all the mansion, from IS
eelated floor to pictured ceiIing-Naaman
would have forgotten that there was any
thing better and would have been glad to
stay there ten thousand years. But oh, how
the shields dim and how the visitors fjy from
the hall and how the music drops dead from
the string, and how the gates of the mansion
slam shut with a sepulchral bang as YOU
read the closing words of the culogium: HE
was leperl He was leper."
1here was one person more sympathetic
with General Naoman than any other person
Naaman's wife walks the floor, wr.nging her
hands and trying to think what she can do
~ al kar- A..el IL.
remedies have failed. The Surgeon-General
and the doctors of the royal staff have met.
and they have shaken their heads as much as
70 say: "No cure; no cure" / think that
the ofiice-seekers had all folded up their
recommendations and gone home Probably
most OF the employees of the establishment
had dropped their work. and were thinking
OF looking for some other sit1ation What
shall now become OF poor Naaman's wife,
She must have sympathy somewhere In her
despair she goes to little Hebrew Captive. a
servant girl in her house. to whom she tells
the whole story; as sometimes when over
borne by the sorrows of the world, and find
ing no sympathy anywhere else, you have
gone out and found in the sympathy of some
humble domestic-Rose or Dinah or Bridget
IA help which the world could not give YOU.
What q scene it wasl One of the grandest
women in all Assyria in cabinet council with
waiting maid over the declining health of
the mighty Generall II know Something
says the little captive maid. II know some
thing" as she bounds to her bare feet ssIn
the land from which was stolen there is a
certain prophet known by the name of
shouldn't wonder if be could cure my mas
ter. Send for him right away" "Oh,
hushm you say. ''lf the highest medical
talent in all the land cannot cure that leper.
there is no need of your listening to any talk
OF servant girl" But do not scoff, do not
HrsOA 49, 1nk1
Is pointing in the right dire .tion. She might
bavesa This is Judgment on you for
stealing me from my native land Didn't
they snatch me of in the night, breaking nv
father and mothers hearth And many time
have laid and cried all night because was
so homesick." Then, flushing up into child
ish indignation, she might have said: "Good
Tor them: I'm glad Naamans got the leprosy;
wish all the Assyriaus had the leprosv.n
No. Forgetting her own personal sorrows,
she sympathizes with the suffering of her
master and commeads him to the famous
Hebrew prophet.
And how often it is that the finger Of
childhood has pointed grown persons in the
right direction. Oh Christian soul, how long
is it since you got rid of the leprosy of SIM
You say: Let me see. It must Be five years
now" Five years. Who was itthat pointed
you TO the Divine Physicianr' "Oh,n You
say, 'it was my little Annie or Fred or
Charley, that clambered up on my knees and
looked in my face and asked me why didn't
become Christian and all the time strokine
my cheek so couldn't get angry, insisted
upon knowing why didn't have family
prayers" There are grandparents here who
have been brought to Christ by their little
grandchildren. There are many Christian
mothers here who had their attention first
called to Jesus by their little children. How
did you get rid Of the leprosy o. sinl How
did you Ind your way to the Divine Physi-
Giant "Oh, you say, "my child, my dying
child, with wan and wasted finger pointed
that way. Oh, shall never forget" you
say. that scene ct the cradle and the crib
that awful night It was hard, hard, very
hard; but il that little one on its dying bed
had not pointed me to Christ, don't think
ever would have got rid Of my leprosy." Go
into the Sabbath-school this afternoon and
you will find hundreds of little fingers point
ing In the same direction, toward Jesus Christ
and toward heaven.
YearB ago the astronomers calculated that
there must beh world hanging at a certain
point 10 the heavens and large prize was
offered for some one who could discover that
world. The telescopes from the great ob.
seryatories were pointed in vain; but girl
nt Nantaucket, Mass. fashioned telescope.
and looking through it, discovered that star
and won the frize and fha adrnfr.tior, ~ all